Improving VIII A Students’ Active Participation and Their Vocabulary Achievement by Using Crossword Puzzles at SMP Negeri 5

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IMPROVING VIII A STUDENTS’ ACTIVE PARTICIPATION AND THEIR VOCABULARY ACHIEVEMENT BY USING CROSSWORD PUZZLES AT SMP NEGERI 5 LUMAJANG

THESIS

Composed to fulfill one of the requirements to obtain S1 Degree

at the English Education Program, Language and Arts Education Department

The Faculty of Teacher Training and Education

Jember University

By:

SHOFI WARDATUR ROHMAH

100210401001

ENGLISH EDUCATION PROGRAM

LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

THE FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION

JEMBER UNIVERSITY


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62 DEDICATION

I proudly dedicate this thesis to:

1. My beloved parents, Dulhapi Lubis and Nariyah. Thank you so much for your love, prayer, support and suggestions ;

2. My beloved grandpa Suja’i Warti and Sudiono Kacung, and grandma Asmani. Thank you so much for your love, prayer, and support ;

3. My lovely brother, Septian Bagas Triyanto. Thank you so much for your love, prayer, and support ;

4. My cousin, Muhammad Khoiron Husen. Thank you so much for your support ; 5. My aunts, Ismianah, S.Pd and Yuyun Kholida S,Pd, Dra. Tatik Yuniawati,

Thanks for your support.

6. My beloved friends, Amir Chalis Andriansyah, Fahmi Hary Subagyo, Anies Indrasari, Prastowo Sandi Asmoro, Yoga Prasetya.


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63 MOTTO

“The nice thing about doing a crossword puzzle is, you know there is a solution.”


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LETTER OF STATEMENT

I certify that this research is an original and authentic piece of work by the author myself. All materials incorporated from secondary sources have been fully acknowledged and referenced.

I certify that this thesis is the result of my work which has been carried out since the official commencement date of the approved thesis title; this thesis has not been submitted previously, in whole or in part, to quality award; ethics procedure and guidelines of the thesis writing from the university and the faculty have been followed.

I am aware of the potential consequences of any breach of the procedures and guidelines, e.g. cancelation of academic award.

I hereby grant the University of Jember the right to archive and to reproduce and communicate to the public my thesis or my project in whole or in part in the University/faculty libraries in all forms of media, now or hereafter known.

Jember, February 20th, 2015

Shofi Wardatur Rohmah NIM. 100210401001


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APPROVAL SHEET

Improving VIII A Students’ Active Participation and Their Vocabulary Achievement by Using Crossword Puzzles at SMPN 5 Lumajang

THESIS

Presented as One of the Requirements to Obtain the Degree of S1 of the English Language Education Study Program, Language and Arts Education Department,

The Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Jember University By:

Name : Shofi Wardatur Rohmah

Identification Number : 100210401001

Class : 2010

Department : Language and Arts

Place of Birth : Lumajang Date of Birth : 7th August 1992

Approved by:

The First Consultant The Second Consultant

Dra. Zakiyah Tasnim, M.A Drs. I Putu Sukmaantara, M.Ed NIP. 195612141985032001 NIP. 1964042419900210003


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APPROVAL OF THE EXAMINATION COMMITTEE

This thesis has been approved and accepted by the Faculty of Teacher training and Education, Jember University on:

Day : Friday

Date : February 20nd, 2015

Place : The Faculty of Teacher Training and Education Examiner Team The Chairperson,

Dra. Wiwiek Eko Bindarti, M.Pd NIP. 19561214 198503 2 00 1

The Secretary,

Drs. I Putu Sukmaantara, M.Ed. NIP.19640424 1990021 0 00 3

Member I,

Dra. Zakiyah Tasnim, M.A . NIP. 19620110 198702 2 00 1

Member II,

Eka Wahjuningsih ,S.Pd, M.Pd NIP.19700612 199512 2 00 1

Acknowledged by

The Faculty of Teacher Training and Education The Dean,

Prof. Dr. Sunardi, M.Pd NIP. 19540501 198303 1 00 5


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all, I would like to thank the Almighty Allah SWT. Because of His blessing and guidance, I am able to finish the thesis entitled : “Improving VIII A Students’s Active Participation and Their Vocabulary Achievement by Using Crossword Puzzles at SMPN 5 Lumajang”.

I realized that this thesis would not be finished without the people who gave me a great deal of support, motivation and suggestion. Therefore, I would like to express my deepest appreciation and sincerest thanks to the following people:

1. The Dean of the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education; 2. The Chairperson of the Language and Arts Education Department; 3. The Chairperson of the English Education Program;

4. The first and second consultants, Dra. Zakiyah Tasnim, M.A. and Drs. I Putu Sukmaantara, M.Ed for their guidance and suggestions in accomplishing this thesis;

5. The Principal, the English teacher and the eighth grade students of SMPN 5 Lumajang in the 2014/2015 academic year who helped me obtain the research data;

6. All of my friends of Kambing Kepo’s boarding house who always support and help me to finish this thesis;

Finally, I expect that this thesis will be useful not only for me but also for the readers and for the future researchers. However, I do realize that this thesis still has some weaknesses. Any constructive criticism and suggestions will be fully appreciated.

Jember, 20th February 2015


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TABLE OF CONTENT

Pages

TITLE PAGE ... i

DEDICATION ... ii

MOTTO ... iii

LETTER OF STATEMENT... iv

APPROVAL SHEET ... v

APPROVAL OF THE EXAMINATION COMITTEE ... vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ... vii

TABLE OF CONTENT ... viii

THE LIST OF TABLES ... xi

THE LIST OF APPENDICES... xii

SUMMARY ... xiii

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Research ... 1

1.2 Problems of the Research ... 4


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1.4 Significance of the Research ... 4

1.4.1 The English Teachers ... 5

1.4.2 The Students ... 5

1.4.3 The Other Researchers ... 5

1.5 The Limitation of the Research...5

CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 2.1 The Definition of Vocabulary ... 6

2.2 The Classification of Vocabulary... 6

2.2.1. Nouns...7

2.2.2 Verbs ... .8

2.2.3 Adjectives...9

2.2.4 Adverbs...10

2.3 The Vovabulary Achievement...11

2.4 The Vocabulary Materials...12

2.5 The Use of game in Teaching Vocabulary...13

2.6 The Crossword Puzzles 2.6.1 The Definition of Crossword Puzzles...14

2.6.2 The Classification of Crossword Puzzles...15

2.7 The Strenghths and The Weaknesses of Using Crossword Puzzles...20

2.7.1 The Strenghths of Using CrosswordPuzzles...20

2.7.2 The Weaknesses of Using Crossword Puzzles...20

2.8 The Procedures of Using Crossword Puzzles in the Classroom...21


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2.10 The Action Hypotesis...23

CHAPTER III. RESEARCH METHOD ... 24

3.1 Research Design ... 24

3.2 Area Determination Method...26

3.3 Research Subject determenation Method...27

3.4 Data Collection Method...27

3.4.1 Observation...28

3.4.2 Vocabulary Test...29

3.4.3 Interview...30

3.4.4 Documentation...30

3.5 Operational Definition of the Key Terms ... 30

3.5.1 Crossword Puzzles...30

3.5.2 Vocabulary Achievement...31

3.5.3 Students’ Active Participation...31

3.6 The Research Procedure...31

3.6.1 The Planning of The Action...31

3.6.2 The Implementation of the Action...32

3.6.3 The Classroom Observation and Evaluation...32

3.6.4 The Data Analysis and Reflection of the Action...34 CHAPTER IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION


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4.1 The Result of the Action in Cycle 1...35

4.1.1 The Implementation of the Action ...35

4.1.2 The Result of Observation in Cycle 1...37

4.1.3 The Result of Vocabulary Test...40

4.1.4 The Result of Reflect in Cycle 1...41

4.2 The Result of the Action in Cycle 2...41

4.2.1 The Implementation of the Action...42

4.2.2 The Results of Observation in Cycle 2...44

4.2.3 The Result of the Vocabulary Test in Cycle 2...46

4.2.4 The Result of Reflection in Cycle 2...47

4.3 Discussion...49

CHAPTER V. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION 5.1 Conclusion...51

5.2 Suggestion ... 52

5.2.1 The English Teacher ... 52

5.2.2 The Students ... 52


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THE LIST OF DIAGRAM, TABLES, AND GRAPH Diagram

Pag e

Figure 1. The Diagram of the Classroom Action Research...25

Table Table 1. Table 1. Regular Verbs...8

Table 2. Table 2. Irregular Verbs...9

Tabel 3. The Students’ Vocabulary Mean Scores of Grade VIII...27

Table 4. The Observation Checklist...28

Table 5. The Schedule of Action of Cycle 1...35

Table 6. The Average Result of the Students’ Participation in Cycle 1...39

Table 7. The schedule of the actions in Cycle 2...41

Table 8. The Average Result of the Students’ Participation in Cycle 2...45

Table 9. The Improvement of the Student’s Active Participation...47

Table 10. The Improvement of the Students’ Vocabulary Achievement...47

Graph Graph 1. The Percentage of the Students' Active Participation...48


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THE LIST OF APPENDICES

1. Research Matrix...56

2. Supporting Data Instrument...59

3. Lesson Plan Cycle 1 Meeting 1...60

4. Lesson Plan Cycle 1 Meeting 2...77

5. Vocabulary Test Cycle 1...93

6. Lesson Plan Cycle 2 Meeting 1...100

7. Lesson Plan Cycle 2 Meeting 2...113

8. Vocabulary Test Cycle 2...128

9. The Result of the Students’ active Participation Cycle 1...135

10. The Result of the Students’ active Participation Cycle 2...136

11.The Students’ Vocabulary Test Scores of Cycle 1...138

12.The Students’ Vocabulary Test Scores of Cycle 2...139


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74 SUMMARY

Improving VIII A Students’ Active Participation and Their Vocabulary Achievement by Using Crossword Puzzles at SMP Negeri 5 Lumajang; Shofi Wardatur Rohmah, 100210401001; 2015; 53 pages; English Language Education Study Program, Language and Arts Department, The Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Jember University.

This research was a classroom action research focusing on the use of Crossword Puzzles to improve the eighth grade students’ vocabulary achievement. The subjects of this research were the students of class VIII-A at SMPN 5 Lumajang in the 2014/2015 academic year. Based on the preliminary study with the English teacher, the eighth grade students of that school had experienced in difficulties to memorizing and understanding the vocabulary, especially at VIII-A class. This class was chosen because the students in that class had difficulties in learning vocabulary. They also had the lowest mean score of vocabulary achievement compared with the other eighth grade classes. The score was 67.45.

In this research, the researcher used Crossword Puzzles in teaching vocabulary to the students to improve the eighth grade students’ active participation and their vocabulary achievement. Crossword puzzles by using clues in the form of phrases and sentences were given to the students in this research. It was intended to help the students to enrich their vocabulary both from the words asked in the clues of Crossword Puzzles and the words used in the clues of crossword puzzles.

This research was conducted on November 13th - November 29th, 2014 in 2 Cycles. Each Cycle consisted of two meetings and a vocabulary achievement test. This Classroom Action Research was done collaboratively with the English teacher.

From the observation of the students’ active participation done during the teaching learning process of vocabulary by using Crossword Puzzles in Cycle 1, the average result of the students’ active participation was 79.73%. It means that the target percentage of the students’ active participation had been achieved. To know the consistency of the result, the observations were continued to Cycle 2. The average result of the students’ active participation increased from 79.73% in Cycle 1


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to 82.43% in Cycle 2. The results of the students’ active participation in this research proved that the use of Crossword Puzzles in teaching vocabulary could improve the students’ active participation during the teaching learning process of vocabulary.

Meanwhile, based on the product evaluation, it was found that average of the achievement test in Cycle I was 77.02%. There were 78.38 % of the students could achieve the target score. Those data showed that this research fullfilled the criteria of succes of the action. However, the actions were still continued to Cycle 2 in order to see the consistency of the success achieved in Cycle 1. In cycle 2, it was found that the mean score of the students’ vocabulary achievement test by using Crossword Puzzles, improved from (77.02%) in Cycle 1 to (79.59%) in Cycle 2. It means that the targeted students’ vocabulary score requirement in this research has been achieved.

Based on the results above, Crossword Puzzles could improve the students’ active participation and their vocabulary achievement at VIII A class of SMPN 5 Lumajang .


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CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

This research was focused on the use of Crossword Puzzles to improve VIII A students’ active participation and their vocabulary achievement. The use of

Crossword Puzzles was intended to make students more interested in joining the teaching learning process of vocabulary, in order that their vocabulary achievement can be improved.

This chapter discusses background of the research, problems of the research, objective of the research, limitation of the research, and significance of the research.

1. Background of the Research

In Indonesia English is the first foreign language which is taught formally from junior high school to the university levels. Students from junior high school up to university levels should master English as suggested by the curriculum used in those levels. They should master the four language skills in English consisting of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and the language components including grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation.


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Based on the 2013 Curriculum of junior high school, the objectives of teaching English are as follows.

a. To develop the communication competency, both in oral and written forms to reach the level of functional literacy.

b. To raise the awareness of the nature and the importance of English to improve national competitiveness in the global community.

c. To develop the students’ comprehension about the relation between language and culture (Depdikbud, 2012:9).

Vocabulary is one of the important language components in foreign language including English. Besides, vocabulary is the important key to study English well. However, there are many students think that it is difficult to enlarge or enrich their vocabulary because the students sometimes forget the vocabulary material that have been taught by the teacher. They also seldom memorize them well. Sometimes, the students are confused when they follow the teaching learning process of English because most of them often forget the meaning of the words. Therefore, the teacher should make the class activities more interesting. One of the ways to make the students interested in the teaching learning process is by applying an appropriate teaching technique. One of them is game.

Game is one of the most effective techniques that can be applied in teaching learning English. Slattery and Jane (2000) (in Doni, 2011:14) state that game can help the learners to create context in which the language is useful and meaningful. They also argue that in increasing vocabulary, teachers should use an interesting technique such as game used in a vocabulary class to improve the students’ vocabulary achievement.

Many teachers use game to build convenient atmosphere in the classroom. It is intended to avoid boredom while the teaching learning process is going on. It can


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also make the students more relaxed. Wright, et al (2006:2) state that games help and encourage many learners to sustain their interests and work. From the statement above it can be understood that game can make the students more interested in studying English including vocabulary.

There are many kinds of games which can be used in teaching vocabulary, one of them is Crossword Puzzles. Karim and Hasbullah (1986:2.36) state that an interesting technique in teaching vocabulary is Crossword Puzzles. It means that Crossword Puzzles can help the students reduce the boredom in the teaching learning process of vocabulary. The students was more interested in learning vocabulary. They feel interested in finding the correct words to fill in the squares both horizontally and vertically based on the clue given.

Some previous research findings on the use of Crossword Puzzles were conducted by some researchers. An experimental research done by Sandy (2011) found that the use of Crossword Puzzles in teaching vocabulary had a positive significant effect on the tenth year students’ vocabulary achievement. Widyasari (2010) found that the use of Crossword Puzzles in teaching vocabulary could

improve the first year students of MA Al Bidayah Candi Bandungan. In addition, the improvement of vocabulary could be seen from the students’ mean score of

vocabulary achievement test from 5.97 in Cycle I to 6.33 in Cycle 2. Additionally, Damai (2011) focused on a classroom action research showing that the use of

Crossword Puzzles could improve students’ vocabulary achievement from 67.64% in Cycle 1 to 82.35% in Cycle 2. It means that Crossword Puzzles could improve students’ vocabulary achievement on the eighth grade students.

There are many reasons why English seems difficult for the students to understand. Based on the observation that was held at SMP Negeri 5 Lumajang on August 20th, 2014, the English teacher only used lecturing technique in teaching vocabulary


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integratedly with teaching reading comprehension. It was also found that most of the students were not active in the vocabulary class. In addition, by conducting an

informal interview with the English teacher of the eighth grade at SMPN 5 Lumajang on August 20th, 2014, it was known that the students’ vocabulary achievement of grade VIII was still under the passing grade at the school, that was 75. From the information, it was revealed that VIII B had mean score of 74.98, VIII C mean score was 70.87, VIII D mean score was 70.15, and VIII E mean score is 69.75. In

addition, VIII A had the lowest mean score of the vocabulary test given by the teacher among the five existing grade eighths in SMPN 5 Lumajang. That was 67.45. Furthermore, the students of VIII A had difficulties to find the meaning of the words, and memorizing the English words. To solve the problems of the students in VIII A in learning vocabulary, the researcher and the English teacher agreed to use

Crossword Puzzles in teaching learning process of vocabulary because Crossword Puzzle has the following strengths. Crossword Puzzles can stimulate students’ interest in learning vocabulary, make students relaxed and free from stress in the teaching and learning process, can motivate students in learning vocabulary, can increase the students’ vocabulary, helps the students to think and study English words and memorize the words indirectly and easily (Karim and Hasbullah, 1986:2.53).

Therefore, a classroom action research entitled Improving VIII A Students’ Active Participation and Their Vocabulary Achievement by Using Crossword Puzzles at SMPN 5 Lumajang was conducted.

1.2 Problems of the Research

Based on the background above, the problems of the research were formulated as follows.


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a. Could the use of Crossword Puzzles improve VIII Astudents’ active participation in the teaching learning process of vocabulary at SMPN 5 Lumajang?

b. Could the use of Crossword Puzzles improve VIII A students’ vocabulary achievement at SMPN 5 Lumajang?

3. Objectives of the Research

Based on the research problems, the objectives of this research could be formulated as follows.

a. To improve VIII A students’ active participation in the teaching learning process of vocabulary by using Crossword Puzzles at SMPN 5 Lumajang. b. To improve VIII A students’ vocabulary achievement at SMPN 5 Lumajang

by using Crossword Puzzles.

3. Significance of the Research

It was expected that the finding of this research to give important contribution to the following people.

1. The English Teacher

The English teacher can use the finding of this research to enrich the use of technique in teaching English, especially in teaching vocabulary which can enhance the students’ active participation in learning vocabulary and enlarge their vocabulary by using Crossword Puzzles.


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81 2. The Students

The result of this research is expected to motivate students to improve their English, especially in their vocabulary achievement by using Crossword Puzzles. Besides, it is hoped that the result of this research can be used as a guide for the students to enlarge their vocabulary dealing with nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs more easily by using Crossword Puzzles.

3. The Future Researchers

It is expected that the result of this research could be used by future researchers as a source of information or a reference to conduct further research dealing with the use of Crossword Puzzles in the vocabulary teaching learning process by using the same or different research design with different subjects at different schools. For example, improving students’ vocabulary achievement by using Crossword Puzzle.

1.5 Limitation of the Research

It was necessary to limit the research in order to avoid the broadness of the research. In this research, the limitation of the research was stated as follows.

a. There were five classes of the eighth grade of SMPN 5 Lumajang in the 2014/2015 Academic Year. This research was conducted in class VIII A because the class has serious problem of their active participation and their vocabulary achievement compared to other classes.

b. Crossword Puzzles was applied as the technique in teaching vocabulary which consisted of large vocabularies: noun, verb, adjective, and adverb.


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Crossword Puzzles were intended to improve the students’ active participation and their vocabulary achievement.

CHAPTER 2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presents the theories related to the use of Crossword Puzzles in vocabulary teaching. They are the definition and function of vocabulary,

classifications of vocabulary, vocabulary achievement, vocabulary materials, games, Crossword Puzzles, the strenghts and weaknesses of Crossword Puzzles in

vocabulary teaching, the procedures of using Crossword Puzzles in vocabulary teaching, students’ active participation and the research action hypotesis.

2.1 The Definition and Function of Vocabulary

A set of words is called vocabulary. Hatch and Brown (1995:1) state that vocabulary refers to a list or a set of words that individual speakers of language might use. In other words, vocabulary is a set of words used in a particular language by an individual.

Napa (2002:6) notes that vocabulary is one of the components of language and no language exists without words. Further, Fardhani (1994:1) states that vocabulary is


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an important aspect of language, because vocabulary or words are tools of thought. Having a good storage of words is essential for understanding and communication. Without sufficient vocabulary, one cannot communicate effectively or express his/her idea. This means that vocabulary is a tool to make phrases and sentences to express ideas, feeling, and thought to be communicated.

2.2 Classification of Vocabulary

Hatch and Brown (1995:218) state that vocabulary can be classified based on their functional categories which are called parts of speech, including nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. In addition, to these major classes, there are pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections as some word.

This research focused on parts of speech that cover nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. The following parts will review the indicators of vocabulary used in this research, consisting of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Those were chosen based on the materials mostly taught for the eighth grade students of Junior High School based on 2013 Curriculum. The details about noun, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs were discussed in the following parts.

1. Nouns

A noun refers to a person, a place, or a thing (Hatch and Brown, 1995:219).

Additionally, Harmer (2004:37) states that noun is a word (or a group of words) that denotes to a person, a place, a thing or an activity or a quality or an idea. Based on the ideas above, it can be concluded that noun is a word or a group of words that are used to identify a person, a place, a thing or an activity.


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According to Thomson and Martinet, (1986:24), there are four kinds of nouns in English. They are as follows.

a. Common nouns

Common nouns are nouns that refer to the names of a group of similar things, such as ‘table’ or ‘book’, and not of a single person, place, or thing. For example:

1. There is a big restaurant with a dining table

b. Proper nouns

Proper nouns are the names of particular persons, places or objects spelled with a capital letter in the first letter. For examples :

1. My uncle lives in France

2. Mrs. Smith went to Jakarta yesterday 3. Tom likes an apple

c. Collective nouns

Collective nouns are nouns that describe a group of things or people as a unit. For examples :

1. Crowd gathered behind the goal.

2. The basketball team learns how to work in or leads a team.


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85 d. Abstract nouns

Abstract nouns are nouns that refer to things that do not exist as a material object. For examples :

1. Many people held a charity event to help Kelud Mountain victims. 2. His fear defeats his logic.

This research was focused only on the use of common nouns, proper nouns, and abstract nouns because those materials are suitable for the eighth grade students based on the 2013 Curriculum.

2. Verbs

According to Hatch and Brown (1995:222), verbs are words that denote an action. Additionally, a verb is a word (or group of words) which is used to describe an action, experience or state (Harmer, 2004:37). So, it can be concluded that a verb is a word or a phrase that refers to an action or a state.

Thomson and Martinet (1986:105) divide verbs into two classes. They are auxiliary verbs and ordinary verbs.

a. Auxiliary Verbs

An auxiliary verb is a kind of verb that helps to form a tense or an expression. They are: to be, to have, to do, can, could, may, might, must, ought, shall, should, will, would, to need, to dare, and used.


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86 b. Ordinary Verbs

An ordinary verb is a verb that is not categorized as an auxiliary verb. There are two kinds of ordinary verbs.

1. Regular Verbs

Regular verbs are verbs that their simple past and past participle are formed by adding “-d” or “-ed” to the infinitive. The examples of regular verbs are as follows.

Table 1. Regular Verbs

Infinitive Past Past Participle

1. Talk 2. Close 3. work

1. Talked 2. Closed 3. Worked

1. Talked 2. Closed 3. Worked

2. Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs are verbs that their simple past and past participle are not added by “ -d” or “-ed” to the infinitive as they do not have fixed rules. The examples of irregular verbs are as follows.


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Table 2. Irregular Verbs

Present/Infinitive Past Past Participle

1. Write 2. Go 3. Swim

1. Wrote 2. Went 3. Swam

1. Written 2. Gone 3. Swum

This research was focused only on the use of ordinary verbs which covered regular verbs and irregular verbs because those materials are appropriate for the eighth grade students as the focus of materials based on the 2013 Curriculum.

3. Adjectives

According to Harmer (2004:37), an adjective is a word that gives more information about a noun or a pronoun. Additionally, adjectives are used to highlight qualities or attributes. Adjectives are words which express some features or quality of a noun or a pronoun (Crystal, 2003:211). Therefore, from those ideas it can be concluded that an adjective is a word or a phrase used to name an attribute or related to describe a noun or pronoun.

Thomson and Martinet (1986:47) classify adjectives into six types, they are as follows.


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88 a. Demonstrative adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives describe words such as ‘this’, ‘that’, ‘those’, ‘these’, ‘that’, shows which person or thing is being referred to. For examples:

1. I know he needs this paper 2. Those boys are handsome

b. Distributive adjectives

Distributive adjectives, such as each, either, every, neithers is a type of adjective used to point out the objects which are taken independently. For examples:

1. He should bring either coffee or tea 2. Every man in that house is a policeman

c. Quantitative adjectives

Quantitative is an adjective which concerns with amount or quantity of something. The words belong to quantitative adjectives are some, any, many,etc. For examples:

1. No one is in my home

2. How many apples do you need ? d. Qualitative adjectives

The words that belong to qualitative adjectives are: clever, good, fat, heavy. For examples:

1. You are a clever student


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89 e. Interrogative adjectives

Interrogative adjective is used to form questions about the nouns they modify. The words that belong to interrogative adjectives are what, who, whose. For examples:

1. What is your favourite colour ? 2. Whose novel is this ?

f. Possessive adjectives

Possessive is an adjective used with a noun to indicate possession or ownership. The words belong to possesive adjectives are: my, your, his, her, its, our, their. For examples :

1. His sister and her brother are classmates 2. It’s your pen

This research was focused only on the use of demonstrative adjectives, quantitative adjectives, qualitative adjectives, and possessive adjectives because those materials are mostly taught in the eight grade students based on the 2013 Curriculum.

4. Adverbs

Adverb is a word (or group of words) which is used to describe or to add the meaning of a verb, an adjective, another adverb or a whole sentence (Harmer, 2004:37). Thomson and Martinet (1986:47) mention that there are eight kinds of adverbs. They are as follows.


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90 a. Adverbs of Manner

An adverb of manner tells us how something is done or happens. Most adverbs of manner end in –ly such as badly, happily, sadly, slowly, quickly, and others that include well, hard, fast, etc.

1. At the advanced age of 88, she still sang very well. 2. The brothers were badly injured in the fight. b. Adverbs of Place

An adverb of place tells us where something is done or happens. We use it after the verb, object or at the end of a sentence. Examples : by, down, here, near, there, up

1. We can stop here for lunch.

2. The schoolboy was knocked over by a school bus. c. Adverbs of Time

An adverb of time tells us when something is done or happens. We use it at the beginning or at the end of a sentence. We use it as a form of emphasis when we place it at the beginning. Adverbs of time include afterwards, already, always, immediately, last month, now, soon, then, and yesterday.

1. He collapsed and died yesterday.

2. Last week, we were stuck in the lift for an hour d. Adverbs of Frequency

An adverb of frequency tells us how often something is done or happens. They were almost fifty when they got married. Examples : always, never, twice, often.


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1. He hardly ever say something nice to his wife. 2. I often watch TV with my mother.

e. Adverbs of Degree

An adverb of degree tells us the level or extent that something is done or happens. Examples : fairly, hardly, rather, too, very

1. Her daughter is quite fat for her age.

2. After all these years, she is still feeling very sad about her father’s death. f. Interrogative Adverbs

These adverbs are the question words that apply to the verb in a sentence. Examples : when, where, why, how, what, who

1. Where is your house? 2. What is his name?

This research was focused only on the use of adverbs of manner, adverbs of place, adverbs of time and adverbs of frequency because those materials are mostly taught in the eight grade students based on the 2013 Curriculum.

2.3 The Vocabulary Achievement

Vocabulary is one of the most important English language components which is needed to learn English well. It also becomes important because we cannot understand and communicate well with other people, both in spoken and written forms by using English without having enough vocabulary. Vocabulary helps the listener and the reader understand both spoken and written message.


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Achievement is something achieved or done successfully with an effort or skill (Hornby 1995:3). Meanwhile, Hughes (2003:12) affirms that achievement is related how successful students have been in achieving the objective of a course. In

conclusion, vocabulary achievement is the students’ ability to use words in expressing or understanding idea.

In this research, vocabulary achievement indicates the result of the students’ vocabulary test after learning English vocabulary by using Crossword Puzzles covering nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. It was shown by the score of a vocabulary test after the students had joined the teaching learning process of vocabulary by using Crossword Puzzles in the class.

2.4 The Vocabulary Materials

Vocabulary is one of language components that is very important to study English well. Since vocabulary materials are not explicitly stated in the curriculum, teaching vocabulary needs to be integrated with teaching the language skills covering

listening, writing, reading and speaking. In this research, teaching vocabulary by using Crossword Puzzles was integrated with teaching reading skill. Based on the 2013 Curriculum, there are two kinds of texts that are taught for the eighth grade students of junior high school. They are genre text and functional text.

a. Genre of text

Genre can be defined as type of literary text. According to the 2013 Curriculum, there are three kinds of text which are taught to the eighth grade students of junior high school. They include: descriptive text, recount text, and narrative text.


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The type of the text that was used was recount text because it was based on 2013 Curriculum.

1. Recount text is a text which has social function to retell past events, and experiences for the purpose of informing and entertaining the reader.

2. A recount text has the following generic /schematic structure. a. Orientation : providing the setting (place and time) and

introducing participants.

b. Events : describing series of events that happened in the past.

c. Re- orientation : stating personal comment of the writer to the story. 3. Language Feature of Recount Text

a. Introducing personal participants; I, my group, etc b. Using chronological connections; then, first, etc c. Using linking verbs; was, were, saw, heard, etc d. Using action verbs; look, go, change, etc e. Using simple past tense

4. Types of Recount Text:

a. Personal recount : retelling of an activity that the writer/speaker has been personally involved in, such as: biography, autobiography

b. Factual recount : recording the particular of an accident, such as : report of a scientific experiment, police report , news report, historical account


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c. Imaginative recount: talking on an imaginary role and giving detail of events. Source :

(Nursahid, S. 2010. PanduanBelajar. Yogyakarta: Primagama)

The Example of Recount Text

Going to School

Last morning, Dinar, my roommate woke up late and she had to go to school.

When she wanted to take her motorcycle, in fact she couldn’t move it because there were some motorcycles that blocked up her motorcycle.

She tried to move all of the motorcycles, so that her motorcycle could move from the garage. But she couldn’t do it.

Then, she called Adel who had that motorcycle which blocked it up. After that, her friend who had that motorcycle helped her. Finally, she could move her motorcycle and rode it to go to school.

Source: (Nursahid, S. 2010. PanduanBelajar. Yogyakarta: Primagama) 5. The Use of Games in Teaching Vocabulary

According to Wright et al (2006:2), language learning is a hard work. It takes effort to understand, to repeat accurately, to adapt and to use newly understood language in conversation and in written composition. From that statement we can conclude that teaching and learning a language especially foreign language is not easy.


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Ersoz (2000:1) states that language learning is a hard task which sometimes can be frustrating. Therefore, a language teacher should use an interesting technique to increase the students’ motivation in a language learning including English. The teacher should be able to determine which technique is suitable for certain situation in order to obtain the objectives of an instruction.

The use of games in language learning is good to solve the problem in a language class because with game, the students will use the language.

Wright et al (2006:2) provide the reasons why teachers have to use games in teaching and learning a language. They are as follows.

a. Games help and encourage many learners to sustain their interest and work. b. Games help the teacher to create contexts in which the language is useful and

meaningful. It helps learners to experience language rather than merely study it.

c. Games involve the emotions, and the meaning of the language which is thus more vividly experienced. It provides intense and meaningful practice of language.

Based on the idea, it can be concluded that games is one way to make the students interested and not easily bored when the teaching learning process in the classroom. There are number of games that can be applied in the teaching learning process of English including vocabulary. One of them is Crossword Puzzles. The following section was discussed more about Crossword Puzzles in teaching learning process of vocabulary.


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96 5. The Crossword Puzzles

1. The Definition of Crossword Puzzles

There are many definitions of Crossword Puzzles. Hadfield (2001:4) states that Crossword Puzzles is a kind of word game asking the students to fill the required words into the squares. According to Hornby (1995:2006), Crossword Puzzle is a puzzle in which words have to be written (from numbered clues) vertically (clues down) and horizontally (clues across) in spaces on a chequerred square or oblong.

From those two statements, we can conclude that Crossword Puzzles is a kind of word games in the form of puzzle in which the students have to fill in the squares horizontaly and vertically by using correct words based on the clues given.

2. The Classification of Crossword Puzzles

According to Karim and Hasbullah (1986:2.38), there are two kinds of crossword puzzles. They are as follows.

a. Crossword Puzzles by using clues in the form of pictures. This is a kind of Crossword Puzzles in which the students find the names of things based on the pictures. The place of the clues (picture) is around of the Crossword Puzzles.

b. Crossword Puzzles by using clues in the form of phrases or sentences. This is a kind of Crossword Puzzles in which the students find the names of things based on the phrases or sentences. This Crossword Puzzle uses a phrase or sentences for the clues.


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The followings are the examples of Crossword Puzzles.

1. Crossword Puzzles by using clues in the form of pictures.

(Taken from www. englishwsheets.com.)

Answer Key Across

2. nurse 5. dentist 7. policeman 10. artist


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98 11. gardener

14. tailor 16. painter 18. actor 19. vet 20. teacher 23. farmer 25. baker

Down

1. cashier 2. businessman 3. magician 4. singer

8. secretary 10. reporter 11. hairdresser 15. dancer


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99 20. waiter

24. carpenter

1. Crossword Puzzles by using clues in the form of phrases or sentences.

1 2

3 4 5

6 7

8

9

10


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Across Down

1. 5. 6. 8. 9. 10. 11.

The opposite meaning of quiet The opposite meaning of run The similar meaning of multicolored The opposite meaning of cold The opposite meaning of low The similar meaning of discontinue The similar meaning of huge

2. 3. 4. 7. 8. 9.

The similar meaning of begin The opposite meaning of smooth The opposite meaning of smile The similar meaning of few The similar meaning of glad The opposite meaning of soft


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Answer Key

1N O I 2S Y

T

3R 4F 5W A L K

6C O L O R F U 7L R

U O I 8H O T

9H I G H W T A

A H N 10S T O P

R L P

D 11L A R G E Y


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In this research, the researcher used the Crossword Puzzles using words or phrases as the clues because this research covered the large vocabulary (nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs) and it was difficult to construct Crossword Puzzles providing pictures as the clues especially since the pictures of adjectives and adverbs could be drawn while they were used as the clues for solving the Crossword Puzzles. Therefore, the researcher used the Crossword Puzzles using words or phrases as the clues.

7. The Strenghths and the Weaknesses of Using Crossword Puzzles The use of Crossword Puzzles in teaching vocabulary has several strengths and weaknesses. They are as follows.

1. The Strenghths of Using Crossword Puzzles

The use of Crossword Puzzles to teach vocabulary has several strenghts. According to Karim and Hasbullah (1986:2.53) the strenghts of Crossword Puzzles were as follows.


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Crossword puzzle is a kind of game that makes the students happy in doing this activity so that it could bring students’ interest in learning vocabulary.

b. Crossword Puzzles make students relaxed and free from stress in the teaching and learning process.

Crossword Puzzles could make the students enjoyand not easily boredg when the teaching learning process. it could make the students do the vocabulary exercises enthusiastically.

c. Crossword Puzzles can motivate students in learning vocabulary.

Crossword Puzzles would make students active in the teaching learning process because it will make the situation more interesting. Therefore, it brings students’ motivation in learning vocabularies.

d. Crossword Puzzles can increase the students’ vocabulary.

They would find new vocabularies more by doing Crossword Puzzles so that their vocabulary will be increased.

e. Crossword Puzzles help the students to think and study English words and memorize the words indirectly and easily.

It would easy for the students to remember the new vocabularies while they are doing Crossword Puzzles.


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2. The Weaknesses of Using Crossword Puzzles

Besides the strenghts, the use of Crossword Puzzles also has several weaknesses. According to Gilbert et al (2011:178), the weaknesses of using Crossword Puzzles are as follows.

a. Crossword Puzzles generally address only the cognitive domain.

The English teacher can ask the students to work together in groups. It will be better than asking the students to do the Exercise individually because it only develops their cognitive domain. By asking the students to do the Exercise of Crossword Puzzles in groups, the English teacher not only can build up the students’ cognitive domain but also their affective domain since they help each other in doing the Exercise of the Crossword Puzzles and share their knowledge about the material.

b. Crossword Puzzles require time to develop.

The English teacher can download the Crossword Puzzles from the internet or copy the Crossword Puzzles from a material book as long as they are suitable with the vocabulary teaching material. If the English teacher wants to construct the

Crossword Puzzles by her/himself, the English teacher can shorten the preparation time by first choosing the simple and understandable words based on the material and continue to construct the Crossword Puzzles by using tables in a computer program (Microsoft Office Word).

c. Crossword Puzzles require equipment to reproduce.

The English teacher can type the Crossword Puzzles by using tables in the computer program (Microsoft Office Word) and save the data in the computer so it will be easy


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to reproduce the Crossword Puzzles and reuse them anytime in the teaching learning process of vocabulary.

In addition, clear explanation was given thoroughly to the students before they start doing the Crossword Puzzle exercises. In this case, it can help the students do the Crossword Puzzles more easily. The researcher managed the activity

intensively in order to keep the students’ enthusiasm and well regulated situation in the classroom.

7. The Procedures of Using Crossword Puzzles in The Classroom In order to guide the implementation of the use of Crossword Puzzles in the classroom, Karim and Hasbullah (1986:2.51-2.52) propose the procedures of applying Crossword Puzzles in the classroom as follows.

a. Prepare the Crossword Puzzles based on the topic that will be discussed. The teachers can take it from the books, internet or other sources or they can create it by themselves.

b. Explain how the students should fill in or complete the Crossword Puzzles. c. Check if all words in the clues are understood by the students.

d. Give limited time for students to finish the Crossword Puzzles. e. Discuss the answer together with the class.

Based on the ideas above, the researcher adapted the procedures of Crossword Puzzles in teaching vocabulary as follows.

1. Preparing the Crossword Puzzles based on the topic


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3. Giving explanation about Crossword Puzzles and the example of Crossword Puzzles to the students

4. Distributing a reading text to the students and asking to the students to pay much attention on the underlined words.

5. Asking the students to do the Crossword Puzzles.

6. Discussing with the students about the correct answers of the Crossword Puzzles in the class.

7. The Students’ Active Participation

Setiadi (in Damai, 2011:6) states that participation is making relation with others related to thinking, feeling, and certain activity. In this research, active participation refers to the students’ action in sharing and in taking a part to make interactions in the classroom activities during the teaching learning process of vocabulary by using Crossword Puzzles. The indicators of the students’ active participation to be

observed are as the following.

1. Answering the teacher’s oral questions; 2. Asking question to the teacher;

3. Discussing to understand the clues;

4. Discussing to find the word based on the clues;

5. Doing the vocabulary exercises by using Crossword Puzzles.


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Based on the research problems and the review of related literature, the following action hypoteses were formulated.

a. Teaching vocabulary by using Crossword Puzzles could improve VIII A students’ active participation in vocabulary teaching learning process at SMPN 5 Lumajang.

b. Teaching vocabulary by using Crossword Puzzles could improve VIII A students’ vocabulary achievement at SMPN 5 Lumajang.


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CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH METHODS

This chapter presents the research methods that were used in this research. They cover research design, area determination method, research subject determination method, operational definition of key terms, data collection methods, and research procedures.

3.1 Research Design

In this research, the researcher used a classroom action research with the aim to improve VIII A active participation in vocabulary class and their vocabulary achievement by using Crossword Puzzles. According to Arikunto (2006:91) a classroom action research is a research which is done in the classroom by doing an intentional activities. In addition, Elliot (1993:69) states that action research is a study of social situation, with a paradigm that is aimed to improve or increase the quality of certain phenomena. In conclusion, classroom action research is a research which is intended to overcome students’ problem in the class.

In conducting the classroom action research, the researcher needs to do it

collaboratively with another researcher or team (Arikunto, 2006:90). Related to that statement, this research was done collaboratively with the English teacher of VIII A at SMPN 5 Lumajang.

The collaboration was conducted in four points, they are: (1) planning of the action, (2) implementation to the action, (3) observation and evaluation, and (4) data analysis and reflection of the action. Those steps were conducted in each cycle.


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The design of this classroom action research is illustrated in the following diagram.


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(Adapted from Lewin in Elliot, 1993:70) Figure 1. The Diagram of the Classroom Action Research

Based on the research design above, the activities of the research used the following procedures.

1. Doing preliminary study by interviewing the English teacher of the eighth grade students of SMPN 5 Lumajang to get some information about the teaching learning process of vocabulary.

2. Finding out some documents as supporting data.

3. Finding out the class which had difficulties and the lowest score in vocabulary achievement from the English teacher.

4. Planning the actions by preparing and constructing lesson plans for the first cycle by the researcher.

5. Observing the vocabulary class by the English teacher while the researcher implemented the action in the first meeting in Cycle 1. In the second meeting of Cycle 1, the English teacher was the teacher while the researcher was be the observer.

6. Giving a vocabulary achievement test to the research subjects in the third meeting after the actions in the first cycle was done.

7. Analyzing the results of observation and the vocabulary test in the first cycle, statistically.


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The succes criteria of the research could not be achieved in the first cycle, the second cycle was conducted. The first cycle could achieve the success criteria of the research, the second cycle was still conducted to know the consistent result of the actions.

3.2 Area Determination Method

The area of the research was determined by using purposive method. Fraenkel and Wallen (2009:99) state that a purposive method is a method in choosing a research area based on certain purpose or reason. The area of this research is SMP Negeri 5 Lumajang. This school is determined purposively by considering some reasons as follows.

a. Based on the interview with the English teacher which was done in the preliminary study, it was known that the students of class VIII A in SMP Negeri 5 Lumajang still had low average score in vocabulary achievement, had difficulties to find the meaning of the words, and memorized the English words.

b. The English teacher has never applied Crossword Puzzles in teaching vocabulary.

c. The researcher and the English teacher as the collaborator has known each other well. It was expected that there was a good collaboration in conducting the classroom action research.

d. The headmaster and the English teacher of SMP Negeri 5 Lumajang have given permission to the researcher to conduct the classroom action research.


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112 3.3 Research Subject Determination Method

According to McMillan (1992:68), research subject is the person who gives some responses or answers to the researcher’s questions either in oral or in written form. The research subjects of this research were the eighth grade students of SMP Negeri 5 Lumajang, especially the students of class VIII A in the 2014/2015 academic year. Based on the information given by the teacher, this class had the lowest mean score of vocabulary test that was 67.45. In addition, from the observation it was known that the students were less active in vocabulary class. Thus, both of the students’

vocabulary achievement and the students’ active participation need to be improved. The following table is the vocabulary mean score of grade VIII at SMP Negeri 5 Lumajang in the 2014/2015 academic year.

Tabel 3. The Students’ Vocabulary Mean Scores of Grade VIII

No Class Mean score

1. VIII A 67.45

2. VIII B 74.98

3. VIII C 70.87

4. VIII D 70.15

5. VIII E 69.75


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113 3.4 Data Collection Methods

The data collection methods that were used were : observation, vocabulary test, interview and documentation. Observation and vocabulary test was used to collect the primary data while interview and documentation were used to collect the supporting data. The four data collection methods were explained in the following parts.

1. Observation

In this classroom action research, observation by using observation checklist was used to colllect the data about students’ active participation during the teaching learning process of vocabulary by applying Crossword Puzzles. The English teacher was the observer while the researcher is going to do the action in the first meeting. In the second meeting, the English teacher was the teacher and the researcher was the observer. The indicators observed were answering the teacher’s oral questions, asking question to the teacher, discussing to understand the clues, discussing to find the word based on the clues, doing the vocabulary exercises by using Crossword Puzzles.

The following is the observation checklist for the students’ participation.

Table 4. The Observation Checklist

No. Name

Indicators Active Pasive


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2 Note :

1. Answering the teacher’s oral questions; 2. Asking question to the teacher;

3. Discussing to understand the clues ;

4. Discussing to find the word based on the clues;

5. Doing the vocabulary exercises by using Crossword Puzzles; 2. Vocabulary test

Arikunto (2006:150) says that a test is an instrument that is used to measure skills, knowledge, and talents of individual or group. In addition, Hughes (2003:11) notes that there are four types of test, they are proficiency test, diagnostic test, achievement test, and placement test. Achievement test is used in this research with the aim of measuring the students’ vocabulary achievement after they are taught vocabulary by using Crossword Puzzles. It is based on the idea that the purpose of achievement test is to measure how successful individual students have achieved the goal of teaching and learning process (Hughes 2003:13).

Vocabulary test is administered to the students at the end of each cycle after the researcher implements the action. It is intended to measure the students’

vocabulary achievement covering nouns, verbs, adjective, and adverbs as the material. Hughes (2003:26) states that “a good test should have validity and

reliability”. A test is said to be valid if it measures accurately what is intended to be measured. The validities are classified into four, they are content validity, criterion related validity, construct validity, and face validity. The validity that was used in


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this test was content validity because the test was constructed based on indicators to be measured.

The test that has content validity, might also be reliable. According to Hughes (2003:34) if the test is not valid, it cannot be reliable. In line with this statement, Frankel and Wallen (2009:150) state that reliability is related to the consistency of giving the scores, how consistent they are for each individual from one set of items to another. A test is considered to be reliable if it gives consistent result.

Dealing with the way of scoring, Hughes (2003:22) states that there are two kinds of test namely objective and subjective test. Further, Hughes (2003:22) says that an objective test is a test that does not require judgment in the scoring process.

Meanwhile, subjective test is a test that influences or depends on the impression and opinion of the rater. Djiwandono (1996:28) states that an objective test is more practical and easier to do in term of scoring. Based on those ideas an objective test was applied in this research in the form of multiple choice, matching and completion. Those types of test are chosen because they enable the teacher to give scores

objectively.

In this research, there were 40 test items with the distribution as follows : multiple choice (15 items), matching (15 items), and in completion the Crossword Puzzles (10 items). In scoring the results, each correct answer in multiple choice is scored 2.5, in matching is scored 2.5, and in completion is scored 2.5. The time allocation for the test is 40 minutes. The researcher gave the same score in each correct answer because the total items were 40 so the maximum score was 100.


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According to McMilan (1992: 132), interview is a form of data collection method in which questions are asked orally and the subjects’ responses are recorded. In this research, semi structured interview was to get the information needed during the process of interview. It means that a list of questions was prepared and developed by the researcher to collect the data about the English curriculum used in the school, the schedule of English subject, the technique used in teaching learning process of vocabulary, and some problems found in the English subject especially in vocabulary class. The interview was done with the English teacher of class VIII A at SMPN 5 Lumajang on August 20th, 2014.

2. Documentation

According to Arikunto (2006:231), documentation is a method of collecting data about research variable in the form of notes, transcripts, news, magazines, and the like. In this research, the data cover the names of the research subjects and the students’ previous scores in vocabulary test of class VIII-A of SMP Negeri 5 Lumajang.

4. The Operational Definition of the Key Terms

Operational definition of the key terms in this research is needed to avoid ambiguity and misunderstanding between the researcher and the readers. The terms which are needed to be explained are the following.


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117 1. Crossword Puzzles

Crossword Puzzles are one kind of games that were used to teach vocabulary in this research. The students have to fill the required words from numbered clues into the squares vertically and horizontally. It is adjusted with the materials that are taught in to eighth grade students of junior high school.

3.5.2 Vocabulary Achievement

Vocabulary achievement in this research was seen through the scores of a vocabulary test covering the materials of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs (large

vocabulary) after being taught by using Crossword Puzzles in each cycle.

3.5.3 Students’ Active Participations

Students’ active participation in this research refers to the students’ activeness and willingness to participate while the teaching learning process of vocabulary by using Crossword Puzzles was conducted. The students’ participation could be seen from the activities in answering the teacher’s questions, asking question to the teacher, discussing to understand the clues, discussing to find the word based on the clues, doing the vocabulary exercises by using Crossword Puzzles. The students were categorized as the active students if they could fulfill four of five indicators;

answering thye teacher’s oral question; asking the question to the teacher; discussing to understand the clues; discussing to find the word based on the clues; doing the vocabulary exercises by using crossword puzzles.


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118 5. The Research Procedure

As stated in the research design, classroom action research was done in cycle model. There are four stages that have to be done in each cycle: the planning of the action, the implementing of the action, the class observation and evaluation, and the data analysis and reflection of the action. The details activities in each stage were as follows.

1. The Planing of the Action

In this research, the planning of the actions includes some activities done before implementing the actions. They are as follows.

1. Preparing the materials of Crossword Puzzles.

2. Constructing the lesson plans of the first cycle. (Meeting I and meeting II) 3. Preparing the students’ worksheet dealing with vocabulary exercises. 4. Preparing the observation checklist containing the indicators that was

observed in the teaching learning process of vocabulary by using Crossword Puzzles.

5. Constructing the vocabulary achievement test. 6. Constructing and evaluating the instrument.

2. The Implementation of the Action

The implementation of the action in this research was done during the school hours and adjusted with the schedule of the English lesson. The actions in each cycle was divided in two meetings and it was be followed by administering an achievement test


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of vocabulary in the third meeting. The researcher was conduct the research collaboratively with the English teacher. In the first meeting the researcher was implement the action and the English teacher was the observation. In the second meeting, the role of the researcher and the English teacher was exchanged.

3. The Classroom Observation and Evaluation

The observation and evaluation in this research was needed to be done. It was important to know the students’ active participation in the teaching learning process of English vocabulary by using Crossword Puzzles. The activities done in the classroom observation and evaluation were as follows.

a. The Classroom Observation

In this research, the observation was done in order to know about the students’ active participation in the teaching learning process of vocabulary by using Crossword Puzzles. An observation guide in the form of checklist was used by the English teacher during the activity in teaching vocabulary by using Crossword Puzzles. The indicators of observation are answering the teacher’s questions, asking question to the teacher, discussing to understand the clues, discussing to find the word based on the clues, doing the vocabulary exercises by using Crossword Puzzles.

The students were categorized as active students if they could perform at least four indicators of active participation.

b. The Evaluation

The evaluation was carried out to know whether the use of Crossword Puzzles as teaching technique could improve the students’ active participation and students’


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vocabulary achievement in the teaching learning process. The evaluations done in this action research were process evaluation and product evaluation.

The process evaluation was done by conducting observation in every meeting in each cycle during the teaching learning process of vocabulary by using Crossword Puzzles. It was done to get the data about the students’ active participation in the teaching learning process of vocabulary. The product evaluation was done at the end of each cycle after the actions given. It was done by adminestering a vocabulary test. It was intended to get the data about the students’ vocabulary achievement.

The criteria that was used to evaluate the success of the actions in this research were as follows.

a. The mean score of VIII-A students of vocabulary achievement test after having vocabulary class by using Crossword Puzzles is at least 75 and it was achieved by at least 75 % of VIII A students.

b. The result of the observation showed that at least 75 % of VIII A students were actively involved in the teaching learning process of vocabulary by using Crossword Puzzles.

4. The Data Analysis and Reflection of the Action Data analysis and reflection were needed to do in order to analyze the obtained data and to know about the improvement of students’ active participation and students’ vocabulary achievement after being taught by using Crossword Puzzles. The data analysis and reflection were discussed in the following part.


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The result of observation about the students’ active participation was analysed by using the following formula.

% Notes:

E = the percentage of the students’ active participation in the vocabulary teaching learning process by using Crossword Puzzles

n = the number of the students who are categorized as active students N = the total number of the students

(Adapted from Ali, 1993:186)

2. The Result of Vocabulary Test

The result of vocabulary test about the students’ vocabulary achievement was analysed by using the following formula.

% Notes:

E = the percentage of the students who gain score ≥ 75

n = the number of the students who get vocabulary test score ≥ 75 N= the total number of the students doing the test

(Adapted from Ali, 1993:186)


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Reflection was done after knowing the result of observation analysis and vocabulary test analysis. The purpose of reflection itself was to know whether there was improvement of students’ active participation and their vocabulary achievment or not. The results of reflection were used to decide whether Cycle 2 needed to be conducted or not.


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CHAPTER 4. RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter reports the results of the classroom action research in Cycle 1 and Cycle 2. Each Cycle consisted of the result of observations, the result of vocabulary test by using Crossword Puzzles, the result of reflections and the discussion of the research results. The result are reported in the following section.

4.1 The Results of the Action in Cycle 1

The actions of the first Cycle were conducted in two meetings. The first meeting was done on November 13th, 2014 and the second meeting was conducted on November 15th, 2014. For the vocabulary test, it was administered on November 20th, 2014. The steps in the first Cycle were the planning of the action, the

implementation of the action, observation and evaluation, and data analysis and reflection of the action.

4.1.1 The Implementation of the Action

Cycle 1 had three meetings, two meetings for the actions and one meeting for the post test. The two meetings for the action were carried out based on Lesson Plans 1 and 2 which were constructed collaboratively by the researcher and the English teacher. The last meeting was for administering the vocabulary achievement test. The schedule of the action in Cycle 1 is presented in the following table.

Table 5. The Schedule of Action of Cycle 1


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124 Meeting 1 November

13th, 2014

10.00-11.30 The

Researcher

The English Teacher Meeting 2 November

15th, 2014

07.00-08.30 The English Teacher

The

Researcher

Test November

20th, 2014

10.00-11.30

The first meeting of Cycle 1 was done on the November 13th, 2014 by implementing the activities in lesson plan 1. At that time, the researcher taught large vocabularies integratedly with the teaching of reading, especially recount text entitled “My Unforgettable Party” by using Crossword Puzzles. The time allocation was 2x40 minutes for each meeting. The research subjects consisted of 37 students.

Meanwhile, the English teacher of VIII A at SMP Negeri 5 Lumajang did the observation and observed the students’ participation during the teaching learning process in the classroom. At the beginning, the researcher started the activity by checking the students’ attendance list, then asked some leading questions while showing a picture related to the the topic to built the students’ motivation. After the students could answer the questions, then the researcher showed a recount text to the students by using LCD proyektor. After that, the researcher gave an explanation to the students about kinds of vocabulary nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Then, the researcher distributed the reading text and students’ worksheet to the students. The researcher gave them a few minutes to read the text. The next activity was the researcher asked the students to classify the underlined words stated in the reading text into nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in pairs as. After that, the researcher asked the students to do exercise I. This exercise was in the form of Crossword Puzzles. Before the students started to do the exercise, the researcher


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explained about what Crossword Puzzles is and how to complete it by giving some examples from the Crossword Puzzles. The students did the Crossword Puzzles on the students’ worksheet. The next activity was discussing answer together with the whole class. After giving some exercises of vocabulary to the students, the researcher guided the students to draw conclusion of the material.

The last stage of the teaching learning process in the first meeting was closure. In this stage, the researcher and the students discussed about the students’ difficulties related to the material given and the researcher guided them to draw conclusion.

The second meeting of Cycle 1 was conducted on November 15th, 2014 based on the lesson plan 2. In that meeting, the English teacher taught vocabulary by using Crossword Puzzles, while the researcher was as the observer of the students’

participation. The topic in the second meeting was Camping. The English teacher did the same procedures as the one in the first meeting. After greeting the students, the English teacher asked some leading questions based on the picture given related to the story. The English teacher reviewed the explanation about large vocabularies.

There were two exercises in the main activity, the students should complete the Crossword Puzzles by using the suitable words taken from the text, the students had to complete the Crossword Puzzles on the students’ worksheet. Then, the

students had to choose the correct answer in multiple choice form. The last stage was closure. The teacher discussed about the students difficulties related to the material has been taught and guided them to draw conclusion.


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As stated previously, the classroom observation in the teaching learning process of vocabulary by using Crossword Puzzles in the first meeting was done by the English teacher, meanwhile in the second meeting it was done by the researcher. In other words, the classroom observations were conducted collaboratively between the researcher and the English teacher. The observation in Cycle 1 was conducted in two meetings. The purpose of observation here was to know the students’

participation during the vocabulary teaching learning process by using Crossword Puzzles. The instument used to observe the students’ participation was an

observation checklist. It consisted of the number column, the students’ initials name column, the meeting column with its indicators’ number, and the category column of active or passive. In this research, there were five indicators observed, namely: 1) answering the teacher’s oral questions, 2) asking questions, 3) discussing to

understand the clues, 4) discussing to find the word based on the clues, and 5) doing the vocabulary exercises by using Crossword Puzzles. A student was categorized as an active student if she or he fulfilled at least four or five indicators. The observers gave a checked mark in the observation cheklist while she were observing the students’ participation based on the indicators.

The calculation of the observation result in Cycle 1 were counted to find the percentage of active and passive students in the classroom.

The formula: E = X 100 Meeting 1

Active:X 100 = 78.38 Passive: X 100 = 21.62


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Active:X 100 = 81.08 Passive: X 100 = 18.91

Based on the table (see Appendix I), in the first meeting, there were 29 active students (78.38) and 8 passive students (21.62) during the reading teaching learning process by using Crossword Puzzles, while in the second meeting, there were 30 active students (81.08) and 7 passive students (18.91) during the vocabulary teaching learning process by using Crossword Puzzles. After finding the percentage of the students’ active and passive paricipation in Cycle 1, the average result of the students’ participation was needed to be calculated too. It was intended to know whether the required percentage had been achieved or not. Therefore, the average result of the students’ active participation in Cycle 1 was 79.73, while 20.26 was categorized as the passive students. It means that the students’ active participation in the vocabulary teaching learning process by using Crossword Puzzles fullfilled the requirement. To make it clear, the data are presented in the table below.


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Table 6. The Average Result of the Students’ Participation in Cycle 1

No. Meeting

Percentage

Active Passive

1. Meeting 1 78.38% 21.62

2. Meeting 2 81.08 18.91

Average 79.73 20.26

4.1.3 The Results of Vocabulary Test

The vocabulary test was administered in the third meeting. The test was given on November 20th, 2014. The test consisted of 40 items in the form of matching (15 items), multiple choices (15 items) and completing the Crossword Puzzles (10 items). Dealing with the scoring, each correct item was scored 2.5. Thus, the total score of the test items was 100 points. Further, after finding the result of the students’ vocabulary test in cycle 1, the precentage of the students’ who got the vocabulary achievement score of 75 or more was analyzed by using the following formula :

E = X 100 Notes :

E : The students’ vocabulary achievement

n : The number of the students whose score 75 or more in the vocabulary achievement test


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(Ali, 1993:186)

The result of the students’ vocabulary achievement test in cycle 1 was analyzed below.

The percentage of students who got score ≥ 75

= 78.38%

The percentage of students who got score < 75

= 21.62%

Based on Table 4.3 (see appendix K), it was found that the mean score the score of the students’ vocabulary achievement test by using Crossword Puzzles was (77.02). The result of vocabulary achievement test above showed that there were 29 students (78.38%) who could achieve the standard minimum score that was ≥ 75 and 8 students (21.62%) who could not achieve the standard minimum score that was ≥75. As mentioned before, the Cycle of this research was considered to be successful if the score of the students’ vocabulary test had reached 75 or more and it was

achieved by at least 75% of the total students. It means that the targeted students’ vocabulary score requirement in this research has been achieved.

4.1.4 The Result of Reflection in Cycle 1

Based on the observation as process evaluation, 29 of 37 students or 78.38% were actively involved during the vocabulary teaching learning process in meeting one. Then, 30 of 37 students or 81.08% were actively involved during the vocabulary


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teaching learning process in meeting two. On the average, there were 79.73% of the students who were categorized as active students during the teaching learning process of vocabulary by using Crossword Puzzles.

Meanwhile, based on the product evaluation, it was found that mean score of the achievement test in Cycle I was 77.02. There were 78.38 % of the students could achieve the target score. That was >75 in the vocabulary test. Those data showed that this research fullfilled the criteria of the succes of the action. However, the actions were still continued to Cycle 2 in order to see the consistency of the success achieved in Cycle 1.

4.2 The Results of the Action in Cycle 2

This cycle was conducted to see the consistency of the success achieved in Cycle 1. In implementing the actions in this Cycle, the researcher taught vocabulary integratedly with the teaching of reading, especially recount text. The text used as the material in Cycle 2 were different from the text used in the the previous Cycle. So, the vocabularies taught were different from the ones taught in the previous Cycle. The implementation of the actions was based on the Lesson plans which had the same procedures with the Lesson Plans used in the previous Cycle. The action in Cycle 2 were also carried out in two meetings. The first meeting was conducted on November 22nd, 2014 and the second meeting was conducted on November 27th, 2014. The vocabulary test of Cycle 2 was conducted on November 29th, 2014. The steps of the activities in Cycle 2 were the same as the ones in Cycle 1, namely preparation of the action, the implementation of the action, observation and evaluation, and data analysis and reflection of the action.


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The implementation of the action in Cycle 2 was based on Lesson Plans 3 and 4. The topics in this Cycle were “Terrible Day” and “Window Shopping”. The

procedures of the teaching learning process in Cycle 2 were the same as the ones with Cycle 1. The schedule of the actions in Cycle 2 is presented the following table.

Table 7. The schedule of the actions in Cycle 2

Activity Dates Time Teacher Observer

Meeting 1 November

22nd, 2014 07.00-0830 Researcher

English Teacher Meeting 2 November

27th, 2014 10.00-11.30

English

Teacher Researcher

Test November

29th, 2014 07.00-0830

In implementing the action in the second cycle, the researcher taught vocabulary integratedly with the teaching of reading, especially the recount text by using Crossword Puzzles.

In the first meeting in Cycle 2 the teaching activity was conducted on November 22rd, 2014. The students were taught by the researcher while the English teacher observed the students' active participation during the teaching learning process. The researcher taught vocabulary by using Crossword Puzzles in which the topic was “My Terrible Day”. In the introduction, the researcher greeted and checked the students' attendance. After that, the researcher gave the students some leading questions by showing a picture related to the topic. Then, the teacher distributed the texts and asked the students to read it silently. This activity was addressed in order to attract them to the topic to be discussed. After that, the researcher stated the


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students’ attention and participation in the teaching and learning process of

vocabulary. Then, the researcher distributed the texts and the exercises sheets to the students and asked the students to read the text silently.

Then, the students were asked to pay much attention to the text with the underlined words, and the researcher asked the students to find the words covering nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, adjective and adverb from the text. They were asked to classify each kind of vocabularies. Next activities, the students in pairs were asked to complete the Crossword Puzzles in the students’ worksheet which had been provided as exercise 1. The researcher gave the students a few minutes to do the exercise. After discussing the answer with the whole class, the researcher guided the students to draw a conclusion of the material.

The second meeting of cycle 2 was conducted on the November 27th, 2014 based on the Lesson Plan 2. In that meeting, there was an exchange between the researcher and the English teacher of VIII A at SMP Negeri 5 Lumajang. At that time, the English teacher taught vocabulary by using Crossword Puzzles, while the researcher was doing the observation of the students’ participation in the back row. The topic in the second meeting was " Window Shopping ". The English teacher did the same procedures as the ones in the first meeting. After greeting the students, the English teacher asked some leading questions related to the story.

There are some exercises in the main activity. First, in exercise 1, the students had to complete the Crossword Puzzles with the suitable words taken from the

underlined words in the text. In exercise 1, the students completed the Crossword Puzzles with the suitable words in the answer sheet which had been provided. Second, the students should match the words with their appropriate meaning as exercise 2. Then in exercise 3, the students had to choose the correct answer. The last


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stage was closure. In this stage, the teacher discussed about the students difficulties related to the material given and guided the students to draw conclusion.

The process evaluation was done in each meeting to record the students’ active participation during the vocabulary teaching and learning process. The observation guide in the form of checklist was used to evaluate the students’ active participation. The indicators observed were answering the teacher’s oral question, asking questions, discussing to understand the clues, discussing to find the word based on the clues, and doing the vocabulary exercises by using Crossword Puzzles. A student was categorized as an active student if she or he fulfilled at least four or five indicators. The observer gave check mark in the observation cheklist while she was observing the students’ participation based on the indicators. Besides process evaluation, the product evaluation was used to evaluate the students’ vocabulary achievement after being given the action, which was done on November 29th, 2014.

4.2.2 The Results of Observation in Cycle 2

As stated previously, the classroom observation in the teaching learning process of vocabulary by using Crossword Puzzles in the first meeting was done by the English teacher, meanwhile in the second meeting it was done by the researcher. In other words, the research was conducted collaboratively between the researcher and the English teacher. The observation guide was in the form of checklist. By conducting this observation, the process evaluation was carried out. The following table is the results of observation in Cycle 2.


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PEMERINTAH KABUPATEN LUMAJANG

DINAS PENDIDIKAN

SMP NEGERI 5 LUMAJANG

SEKOLAH STANDAR NASIONAL ( SSN )

Jl. Sastrodikoro No. 128 (0334) 891462 Lumajang 67312

N

o Nama

Nilai Pengetahuan Nilai Keterampilan induk N. Harian

UTS UKK

Praktik Porto Proyek 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 1 2

1 1651 Achmad Hamzah 75 2 1759 Adinda Fibrianti M 68 3 1653 Adisti Putri P 75 4 1688 Afifah Sahira B 58 5 1724 Ahmad Rusnan A 72 6 1762 Andicko Prasatya 75 7 1692 Anis Agustina 65 8 1798 Ardiansyah Putra P 75 9 1799 Aulya Muharomah 85 10 1801 Dimas Wahyu H 60 11 1802 Dinda Laila R 62 12 1733 Diska Fuji R 51 13 1803 Dwi Intan Fatimatus 62 14 1838 Eka Alvin 75 15 1769 Fahrurozi 62


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16 1699 Heni Wahyuni 68 17 1810 Insany Salsa Bila 71 18 1739 Intan Khoirun N 51 19 1740 Jodi Angger W 65 20 1814 Lutfi Anindhiya 75 21 1742 M. Abdul Mahsan A 65 22 1702 M. Farizal Rohman 58 23 1816 M. Syahdilla P 65 24 1671 Maulana Malik I 63 25 1777 Mella Handini T 68 26 1708 Muhammad Agil Y 65 27 1749 Muhammad Nurulloh 72 28 1780 Nabilah Zulfa 55 29 1783 Nur Ikhsan A 65 30 1823 Putri Ayu N 75 31 1753 Ria Novita Sari 65 32 1683 Saiful Anam 45 33 1789 Sara Auliyah S 62 34 1826 Syaiful Rizal 68 35 1719 Tsurayya Alifia Z 81 36 1758 Windah Atika Putri 55 37 1794 Veryansyah Maulana 51


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DOCUMENTATION


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The researcher as the English teacher, and the English teacher as observer in Cycle 1


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The student filling the Crossword Puzzles


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The Researcher with the Students’s and the English Teacher VIII A in SMPN 5

Lumajang